


I Do Not Have a Cat!

by Elenhin



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Gen, I do not have a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-28
Updated: 2013-10-28
Packaged: 2017-12-30 17:59:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1021688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenhin/pseuds/Elenhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I Do Not Have a Cat, something Dawn has said many times, and will say again...</p>
<p>Once more this is based on a line from the One Word At a Time series by the generous and talented Aramirandme81. Who not only allowed me to play with this, but encouraged me and even challenged me. I asked for a few specific lines for a challange, and this is one I got. </p>
<p>Thus this story is in every sense inspired by One Word At a Time, and this can be seen as a fill in of some odd sort, something that might or not be the story behind the line, but is alltogether unoficial.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Do Not Have a Cat!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the Almighty Johnsons, nor any other stray Norse Gods found in said show. Anders assures me that in spite of popular belief he is not a dwarf, though my three inch high Fili and Kili does not quite appear to agree with him. Anders is also under protection of Kili and no permanent harm will come to him in my fanfic stories.
> 
> My sincerest grattitude to Aramirandme81 for being allowed to play with this, *bows* And I hope it meets your expectations. ;)
> 
> The line I was challanged with for this was the line for the word cat. 
> 
> Dawn is fairly easygoing, but when she finds herself nearly adding cat food to her cart, she really feels like hitting someone, preferably Anders.
> 
> That is the line my story ends with, the stuff before, is my own insanity.

I Do Not Have A Cat

 

There were times when Dawn was wondering why the PR business was so that you either had no business or was swamped with business. There appeared to be no middle ground. For a few months they had virtually no clients, and she had been seriously looking at work ads knowing that there was a very real possibility they would both be needing new jobs. She also knew that Anders would not admit to this before he found himself standing outside of the door without his business, and that he would probably have no real idea of what to do about it then.

  
So she had been looking for other options on the quiet side, for both of them.

 

Then everything turned around seemingly in the blink of an eye. Anders had spent a couple of days away from the office and she was not entirely sure what he had been doing. He told her he was looking for new clients, and apparently he had outdone himself. He hadn’t managed to get them just one or two, she wasn’t really sure how many actually, but three larger contracts and a number of small ones.

 

A newly started cosmetic chain was looking for someone to promote their products, which meant she now had a complete set, including a very practical and yet stylish travel case. In her experience they were either or, never both, which made her actually believe in this product.

 

It had also been fun to watch Anders as he rifled through the products. He might not know very much about cosmetics, but she had to admit that he knew a good deal about women, and the campaign was looking to be a huge success. Anders knew how to tempt and tease a girl just so much so that she wanted to try it for herself, even makeup. However, his knowledge of the actual products was limited. When the three women who had hired him had brought samples Anders had shown  a quite delightful curiosity, but very little knowledge. His enthusiasm however had made them laugh as he ‘tested’ the products. Opening the tiny plastic cases to look at the eyeshadow, drawing a stickfigure on his wrist with the eyeliner, and declaring his amazement that they knew how it all worked together.

 

They had left those products behind as a gift to Dawn who was only too happy to receive them. It was good quality but fairly inexpensive since it was plain rather than flashy, opting instead for practicality and quality to sell the brand. In combination with Anders, it was not a bad idea.

 

Working on more than one of those campaigns though had somewhat worn out her brain, at least that was what it felt like.

 

Anders had been very good and generous, treating her to lunch the whole week, though mostly because they both ate at their desks. Anders had also shown up for work close to the correct time the whole week which in itself was quite impressive.

 

Now all she wanted to do was to get home for a relaxing evening, and then continue to enjoy her weekend. She had taken care of her shopping on the way home, or she would have nothing to eat, even if she thought she might cheat and call out for her dinner. She would have prefered to cook but was not sure if she would have the energy for it. She was just so worn out all she wanted was a hot bath and then to settle with a good movie and some Chinese.

 

Still she had to put away the groceries, putting the milk in the fridge and the rest in the cupboards. She opened a tin and scooped it out into a bowl before putting it down as she rolled her shoulders and scratched.

 

Her energy reserve was okay so far as to throw the tin away, but then she headed into the bathroom to fill the tub.

 

The bath was amazing, hot and relaxing. The bath salt she had bought had been worth the prize. She could really feel her muscle lose some of the tension so she did not feel as guilty afterwards when she ordered the take out.

 

Anders no doubt had taken something else home she was sure of it, she did not know how he managed it. He was really quite good looking but even so it was sometimes hard for her to see how so many women would fall for him. Auckland was however running out of women who had not slept with Anders.

 

The food came, a young tired looking man and she gave him a fairly generous tip, then turned on the tv so she could enjoy a movie. By the end of it she was barely awake, but she felt good. She felt a lot better than when she got home and decided that was all that mattered.

 

She could sleep in in the morning, as long as she wanted to. No need to get up and if Anders had some sudden spark of energy as he sometimes would she would simply tell him no. He might, it had happened before, he would get drunk, decide he knew the perfect thing for one of their clients and call her during the middle of the weekend.

 

It usually was the perfect thing, she had to give him that, he could get some really good ideas when he was drunk, but it was weekend and she wished he wouldn’t decide they had to be put in motion there and then on the spot.

 

Dealing with Anders was in many ways like dealing with a child, he could be whiney and uncooperative, demanding and inconsiderate. Enough to make you want to swear him off forever and ban him from your life. Then there were those shows of love and gratitude, so pure and simple that you knew they were true. No one could fake that clumsy attempt at showing what they felt, and she found she forgave him for all his faults then. How could you not? A child would be presenting a drawing made in crayon, Anders, smooth talking Anders who favored fancy restaurants, stumbled on the words as he urged her to let him treat her to a simple ice cream.

 

Nothing could make it more obvious that he really meant what he said, and she treasured those moments when Anders braved to show who he really was.

 

Turning the television off she took the trash to the kitchen and threw it into the bin, then turned around to go to her bedroom, and paused. Turning back again she stared in disbelief.

 

She truly could not believe her eyes. It had to be a trick of the light, or anything, but it was not. It was real and it was true and she could not believe she had done it.

 

While normally not fond of vulgarities she cursed and reached for her phone, dialing the familiar number. She had to wait while several rings passed, something quite unusual for the man who tended to live and breath for his I-phone or so it seemed to her.

 

“‘llo,” Anders’ sleepy voice came through, unusually early for him to be asleep which meant he must have been even more exhausted than her, but she had no sympathy to spare for him at the moment.

 

“I do not have a cat!” she snapped.

 

“Dawn?” she heard him stifle a yawn, sounding confused as well as sleepy.

 

“Yes Anders,” she confirmed, her tone biting.

 

“Is it morning already?” the confusion in his voice only grew. “It’s fucking dark still, it can’t be morning.”

 

“It’s not morning, it’s evening Anders,” she stated. “And I don’t have a cat!” she snapped again.

 

“Okay yeah,” he yawned again. “Fuck, I was having a really nice dream Dawn, do we have to do this now?”

 

“Yes, we do,” she confirmed.

 

“Alright, it’s not like I was doing anything better than sleeping, so yeah, sure, I’ll be over,” he hangs up the phone and Dawn blinks confused. It’s not exactly something she needs him to come over for. She can tell him off well enough over the phone, it does not have to be face to face at all. Putting the phone down a little harder than she maybe has to she gives the bowl an angry glare. The bowl she filled with cat food and put on the floor earlier.

 

She was exhausted she knows, but still, she bought cat food. She filled a bowl of cat food, and put it on the floor.

 

“I don’t have a cat!” again she glares at the food.

 

Anders shows up about twenty minutes later, and she can tell right away he had been sleeping. His hair is standing at all ends as if he did not even try to straighten it, his shirt is wrinkled as if he had been sleeping on the couch rather than in his bed.

 

“Okay, how do you want to do this?” he asks tiredly.

 

“It’s perfectly simple, just stop it,” she states.

  
Anders blinks confused, then rubs at his eyes. “That’s not simple at all, we need to look for your cat, I get that.”

 

“I don’t have a cat!” she snaps again, wondering if he can really be so daft.

 

“Your cat is gone, I get that,” he draws a deep breath. “And I’ll help you look. Fuck I’d rather get back home and get some sleep, I’m exhausted Dawn, really, but if your cat’s gone, I’ll help you look.”

 

Dawn had meant to yell at him, but suddenly she finds she can not. Normally that would be due to him somehow doing something that makes all her anger and frustration just go away, but this time she can tell it’s something different. For one thing his voice is not that soft sweet voice that he uses when he wants something. The one she both loves and hates, it’s raspy and thick from lack of sleep. He is tired and was sleeping, and apparently he has forgotten that the cat is just a joke to him. Something he does to mess with her head. Something that messes with her head to the point where she finds herself opening a tin of cat food and putting it in a bowl for a cat she does not have.

 

Yet he is here to help her look for that cat, and it is hard to be mad at him when he really is here to help her look for her cat.

 

“Here,” she hands him the second tin of cat food, the one she had not yet opened. “Take this, and go out and see if you can find it.”

 

“Yeah sure,” Anders takes it. “Good idea, get the cat to come out to have the food. Don’t worry Dawn, we’ll find your cat.”

 

Watching him go Dawn shakes her head. It’s hard to believe but he’s off walking down the street, cat food in hand, looking for a nonexistent cat, and maybe when he figures that out it won’t be so much fun to mess with her head about that cat anymore. Especially if he tries to open the tin without a tin opener.

 

It’s hard to say how long he’ll do it before he figures it out, but the longer the better in her mind, and she’s quite pleased with herself as she closes the door to get a good night's sleep. She only feels a little guilty knowing how tired he must really be to be so confused.

 

Still, it is his own fault and she will not call him and tell him to forget about it, and to just go home. Instead she goes to bed.

 

She expects Anders to be mad about it back in the office when Monday comes around. Especially since she can rather tell he must have spent most of the night walking around looking for the cat. His shoes that had been brand new are now quite scuffed and worn, and he keeps wincing when he stands, making her think he’s rather footsore at the moment. Which he would be if he had been walking all night in shoes not yet broken in.

 

Instead of being mad though, he just gives her a grin, “I’m glad your cat is back home safe.”  Then he sits at his desk to get started on the paper work.

 

She would have pointed out that she has no cat, but has to wonder if it is any use. Instead she figures it’s just best to start the work week, trying to forget about it all. At least he does not do it so much for a few weeks, but he does do it, more than once, and it still makes her sigh.

 

Especially when she’s once more in the supermarket to do the shopping for the weekend.

 

Dawn is fairly easygoing, but when she finds herself nearly adding cat food to her cart, she really feels like hitting someone, preferably Anders.

  
The End

 

Please comment, the Cricket is hungry. And if you enjoyed this, and have not yet done so, the Cricket once more urges that One Word At A Time should be read. In fact, even if you have, the Cricket claims that reading again is a good idea.... :D 


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